KENT, Wash. -- A Kent city council candidate accused of cleaning out his elderly mother’s bank accounts so thoroughly she was booted from a private nursing home now faces felony theft charges.

King County prosecutors contend Kenneth Sharp stole nearly a half-million dollars from his 93-year-old mother after being awarded control of her finances. The woman was ultimately forced to leave a Federal Way nursing home, where she had lived for five years after her bills went unpaid.

Sharp, a 66-year-old print shop owner, was the top vote-getter in the Aug. 6 primary for a Kent City Council seat.

Speaking on his client’s behalf Tuesday, attorney Mark Prothero said Sharp’s mother approved the transactions at issue and Sharp always intended to repay the money.

“Everything was up front with his mom,” Prothero said by phone. “He would never steal from his mother.”

Prothero described Sharp as an upstanding member of his community and said he will be pleading not guilty at arraignment later in August.

His mother moved into the Foundation House in 2008 after suffering a stroke. Sharp received control of her bank accounts 13 years before and was responsible for managing her savings.

Writing the court, a Federal Way detective said the woman’s other children were cleaning out their mother’s home in preparation to sell it when they discovered Sharp had taken out a “reverse mortgage” on the property. By the time it was discovered, the $472,000 loan was in default.

Reviewing the woman’s finances, the detective found Sharp pulled $200,000 out of his mother’s account the week he obtained the reverse mortgage, and ultimately took $492,000 from his mother’s accounts. According to charging papers, Sharp routed much of the money to his business, Minuteman Press of Kent, which was apparently foundering.

While the thefts were ongoing, Sharp and his third wife traveled the world, stopping in Spain, Mexico, Dubai and South Africa, according to charging papers. Sharp is also alleged to have spent $12,358 of his mother’s money at a Tacoma jeweler.

At the same time, his mother’s bills went unpaid at the Federal Way nursing home. She has since been moved to a Medicaid-funded facility and has little savings left.

The detective noted that email from Sharp's third wife indicate she paid back $17,000 of nursing home debt. In the email, she said she loved her new mother-in-law and "could not see her on the streets penniless."

Arrested on June 20, Sharp was confronted with the large transfers out of his mother’s account. According to charging papers, Sharp claimed he couldn’t recall what a $200,000 transfer paid for but later admitted he used much of the money to pay his personal debts.

Sharp went on to contend his mother supported the reverse mortgage, the detective told the court. The broker who arranged the loan told police Sharp claimed he was handling the reverse mortgage paperwork because his mother was too infirm to grip a pen.

Sharp has been charged with seven counts of first-degree theft. He is not currently jailed.